US WARNS OF SANCTIONS ON KOREA HELPERS

Washington, Sept 23: The US State Department said Saturday that Washington would not wait to impose sanctions on shippers helping to get fuel to North Korea, in an apparent warning to Russia days after the US ambassador to the United Nations accused Moscow of cheating on the measures.

North Korea continues to employ tactics to evade UN sanctions, Heather Nauert, the state department spokeswoman, said in a statement, adding that UN member states are required to prohibit ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum fuel to the hermit country.

“The US will not hesitate to impose sanctions on any individual, entity, or vessel supporting North Korea’s illicit activities, regardless of nationality,” Nauert said. The 15-member UN Security Council has unanimously boosted sanctions on North Korea since 2006 in a bid to choke funding for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

But the US and Russia have recently shown cracks in the unity of the Council over the sanctions. Washington has “evidence of consistent and wide-ranging Russian violations” of the sanctions, the US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said on Monday. Russia was helping North Korea illegally obtain fuel through transfers at sea, had refused to expel a North Korean whom the Security Council blacklisted last year, and had pushed for changes to an independent UN report on sanctions violations to cover up breaches by Russians, she said.